Lady Chatterley's Lover The Body Quotes

How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)

Quote #1

"So long as you can forget your body you are happy," said Lady Bennerley. "And the moment you begin to be aware of your body, you are wretched. So, if civilization is any good, it has to help us to forget our bodies, and then time passes happily without our knowing it." (7.43)

Lady Bennerley has it all backwards. The problem with civilization isn't that we think about our bodies too much but that we don't think about them enough. So says D.H. Lawrence, at least.

Quote #2

"Yes, he sort of couldn't take it for natural, all that pain. And it spoilt his pleasure in his bit of married love. I said to him: If I don't care, why should you? It's my look-out!—But all he'd ever say was: It's not right!"(11.165)

Here, Ivy Bolton is remembering that her husband was afraid to have sex with her after watching her give birth. She takes it naturally—sex leads to birth, and birth leads to pain, and that's just the way bodies work—but her husband just can't handle it. You get the sense that Mellors would be able to watch Connie give birth pretty cheerfully.

Quote #3

So much for women not being visual. The only reason Connie can give for wanting to have sex with Mellors is that she thought he was hot. That's good enough for us, and it's definitely good enough for Mellors.